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radkindoffeminist · 1 year

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I have a lot of issues with your pinned post and if you are willing to have a respectful discussion in dm's or whatever I will gladly explain my rationale on several of the points you made but I think you are really missing the point of inclusive language.

Yes, there are people who attack individual women for calling themselves "pregnant women" instead of "pregnant people." The reality is that there is always someone out there arguing for the stupidest possible version of any belief in existence. But that isn't the point of inclusive language.

The reason it's actually important isn't about validating people, it's about people getting access to the healthcare they need. If you, as a woman, go to a gynecologist looking for help with birth control, or pregnancy, or menstrual issues, etc etc you're not going to be turned away because "you're a woman, not a person." (This is NOT the same as not being taken seriously btw. Before you bring up that argument.) But trans men can and have been turned away from those procedures because "this treatment is for women/you can't possibly have [insert issue here], you're a man." Basically, read Stone Butch Blues I am begging.

Individual women can call themselves women as much as they want, but in medical settings it's important to use inclusive (and accurate!) language. "People who can get pregnant" acknowledges that there are women who are too young or old to get pregnant, or lack certain organs necessary for it, while including people who aren't women that can. And by the way, there are plenty of trans people who do encourage the use of inclusive language when it comes to male healthcare and are frustrated by terms like "womxn" being popularized.

You say you don't hate trans people or want us to come to harm? Help us protect our access to basic healthcare.

Jesus fucking Christ.

Medical inclusivity? Really? What makes you think that just turning from ‘pregnant women’ to ‘pregnant people’ is going to make people recognise that there are female people who don’t identify as women who can still get pregnant? Like, is that really going to be such a big problem in the medical community that actually we need to change all of our language because that alone will make doctors recognise that trans men can also get pregnant?

Moreover, even if I accept the above -that the language needs to change to accommodate trans people, especially as it seems like disagreeing with you about this makes you think that I want trans people to be harmed but I’ll deal with that later- why should it mean that I’m not allowed to be offended by this language change when it forces me to address myself and other women by our organs? This is especially offensive towards women who have a long history of being treated as a walking baby-maker/uterus/vagina. You only picked pregnant person in your example, but there are so many other terms I’ve seen: uterus owner, vagina haver, menstruator, etc. Why is my offence taken as hate on trans people? There are so many other terms which could be used which are significantly less offensive but those ones aren’t chosen, just the ones where we’re forced to refer to ourselves by our organs. Women, AFAB non-binary people, and trans men, for one.

Finally, if the actual argument that you’re going with is because it’s necessary for medical reasons then why is it only women who are targeted with this language? I literally don’t care that some people are encouraging the male equivalents because the reality of the situation is that these terms are directed almost exclusively towards women. There are so many examples of sites which use this language for women while men are still male! It just goes to show how deeply misogynistic this all is and how it was always meant to dehumanise women and separate us from our sex and our sex class.

You’ve basically just said ‘it’s better and more inclusive to trans people so shut up about being offended about it because if you disagree then you want harm to come to trans people’. You’re never going to care about my arguments or my feelings on this subject because all you’re going to do is say that I just hate trans people and want them to be hurt if I disagree. You don’t care about the fact that this language is deeply misogynistic and targets women. You just want us to shut up, accept it, and feel bad for being offended.

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gravitywonagain · 11 months

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Beating Like a Hammer; Part 3

continuing this story about wlw wangxian hate-sex :) [part 2]

tags: genderswapped characters, enemies to lovers, slow burn, dapper butch!lwj, vaguely femme!wwx, gratuitous mentions of woodworking and rugby minutiae, “dyke” but never as a slur, queer fam movie night, public sexual activity (it's not sex, but it's definitely horny)

more tags to come later (including but not limited to: pop culture references as flirting, trucks with sword names, bad bdsm etiquette, and better bdsm etiquette)

[E (eventually), 8k, 3/9, WLW Wangxian]

iii.

—

[she won’t get out of your seat on movie night so you spend the whole movie in her lap to prove a point. she strums her fingers on your thigh and you wiggle into her crotch and cross your arms. she laughs and it’s soft against your neck. asshole.]

—

Movie night is a monthly thing that Nie Huaisang’s sister insists on hosting. It started as a way, Wei Ying is fairly certain, for Nie Mingjue to check in on her younger sibling and make sure they weren’t starving or getting into drugs or generally falling down a well. It has become a kind of community night that includes anywhere from three to twelve people, depending on the week.

Wei Ying, as Nie Huaisang’s roommate, is not allowed to skip it.

It’s not usually a hardship. Nie Mingjue has a truly massive TV -- it takes up almost an entire wall in her living room. Her sound system has better acoustics than most movie theaters. The food is usually good, the beer is plenty (and local!), and Wei Ying has figured out the best seat in the house, sinking into the soft, velvety corner of the couch next to the loveseat where she never catches a glare and the sound is loud enough that she can lose herself in the experience.

(Hearing loss is a non-negligible risk in her career. Especially when she only uses headphones as protection, and not even the good ones. Yes, she can still hear her mother’s disappointment from beyond the grave, thank you for asking.)

The movies and films they watch are varied enough that it’s never boring, though occasionally they get a bit weird. Nie Huaisang went through a Lars von Trier phase some years ago that was… well. Wei Ying still has weird dreams about Charlotte Gainsbourg and Kirsten Dunst sometimes. Lately the group has decided to revisit the kung fu classics of the seventies and eighties. Not all of them have aged particularly well. Many in the group have trained in some form of wushu or wing chun. Heckling is not so much welcome as it is the goal.

So, it’s a great time. A night a month where Wei Ying gets to hang out with friends and chosen family and just relax. Except--

Except.

Nie Mingjue is only nominally not married to Lan Huan, and Lan Zhan is Lan Huan’s sister, which means that, even though Lan Zhan now has her own place, she still comes to movie night.

It’s a little difficult to tell why, exactly, Lan Zhan comes to movie night. She never engages with the running commentary, positive or negative. Most of the time she looks mad that they’re all talking during the film at all. (She’s never said anything, but the vibe is there.) She just… watches. Silently. Radiating a vague sense of disapproval.

Wei Ying is half-convinced Lan Zhan’s not even there for the movies, because sometimes she catches Lan Zhan’s eyes focused on her, glaring or something, even when she’s not talking.

And they do continue their… antagonism. Wei Ying snipes, Lan Zhan is aloof. It’s still strangely off-kilter, in that place that hasn’t decided whether it's hot or hostile. But it’s growing, changing.

They’re, maybe grudgingly, learning each other the more they interact. Wei Ying is building a catalog of every twitch of Lan Zhan’s face, noting every reaction and assigning it context and probable cause. Lan Zhan seems to know exactly which of Wei Ying’s buttons to push and when to push them to greatest effect, even if she pushes them harder than Wei Ying likes. (If Wei Ying is starting, maybe, to like it that hard… no she isn’t.)

Like today.

When Wei Ying and Nie Huaisang show up to Nie Mingjue’s house -- not that late -- Lan Zhan is already there, fizzy water in hand, waiting for Da-jie to queue up the film, and sitting in Wei Ying’s seat.

She looks perfectly composed. No hint of mischief on her face -- well, maybe that new tilt to her left eyebrow? But not the lip-twitch of a wry smirk she usually uses to taunt Wei Ying. She is, as always, immaculately well dressed. Today it’s light-wash jeans and a short-sleeved blue and white patterned button-down with the sleeves cuffed tight around her (spectacular) biceps -- fuck.

Huaisang snorts when they walk in and see her there. Wei Ying stops in her tracks and Huaisang continues past her with a gentle pat on her shoulder and a smile made of one part sympathy and two parts amusement. Wei Ying doesn’t appreciate the latter.

Because the thing is--

The thing is: Lan Zhan knows it’s Wei Ying’s seat. Wei Ying knows Lan Zhan knows it’s Wei Ying’s seat because this is the fourth movie night since Lan Zhan started coming and Wei Ying has sat in that seat every single time. That’s a pattern. Obvious. Clear as a fucking name plate.

Which means Lan Zhan is doing this on purpose. She’s sitting there, in Wei Ying’s fucking seat, on purpose.

Wei Ying was raised with Good Manners™ by her mother and then Yu-ayi so instead of throwing the tantrum she very much feels rising on her chest, she turns on her heel and diverts into the kitchen.

There’s nobody in the kitchen. In the kitchen she can Think and Process and figure out what she’s going to do without anybody looking at her like she’s as insane as she feels right now.

She roots around in the cabinet until she finds an oversized coffee mug which she fills to the fucking brim with red wine. The first gulp goes down like acid, but then the alcohol begins to buzz softly in her veins and it’s better. Her fingers twitch tight into fists on both hands. The stoneware mug (probably handcrafted, probably local -- Da-jie is full of hashtag-life-goals like that) does not deserve to bear the burden of Wei Ying’s distress, so she sets it down gently with a little tap as she leans her head down onto the cold acrylic of the island countertop.

She’s being ridiculous. She knows.

Really. This should not be getting her worked up like this. This is a very stupid thing to be upset about. To be this upset about. But--

But.

It’s Lan Zhan.

Lan Zhan is definitely doing this on purpose which means she definitely has a purpose. Wei Ying can only defeat that purpose if she knows what it is. But she has no idea what Lan Zhan could possibly want out of this… theft? (It feels a little ridiculous to think of it as “theft.” It’s just a seat in her roommate’s sister’s house that Wei Ying occupies only once every few weeks. And yet…)

Wine sloshes dangerously close to the rim of her mug as she spins it idly (frantically) with her fingertips and her mind works through Lan Zhan’s possible motives.

Does she want to edge Wei Ying out of the room? Does she want to assert some kind of dominance by proving that Wei Ying doesn’t matter to her? Does she want… Does she want Wei Ying to be freaking out about this right now? Because Wei Ying is so freaking out about this right now. And if that’s what Lan Zhan is hoping for…

Wei Ying grabs her wine mug off the countertop.

She opens the fridge and grabs a can of loquat-flavored fizzy water, too. She can be polite.

Nie Mingjue stomps into the kitchen as Wei Ying closes the refrigerator door and Wei Ying marvels at the possibilities that exist when you don’t have to worry about downstairs neighbors (or upstairs neighbors, or wall-sharing neighbors -- wow, houses are cool).

“Wei Ying, sit the fuck down already. Are you twelve?”

“Da-jie!” She doesn’t mean to sound petulant, but the pitch of her voice does lend credence to Nie Mingjue’s age question.

Nie Mingjue is unfazed. She’s put up with Wei Ying’s shit for too many years. Which is a damn shame, because when they first met, Da-jie would give into Wei Ying’s whining so easily it was amazing. But alas, no longer.

“So sit somewhere else,” she says, “or sit on her lap, I don’t give a fuck. I want to start the damn movie.”

Heat rushes to Wei Ying’s cheeks. She’s not sure if it’s the suggestion or the scolding, but the suggestion is… something. Probably not actually a suggestion. Probably just Nie Mingjue being frustrated. But.

“Fine.”

With her mug and the unopened can in her hands she follows Nie Mingjue out to the living room.

There aren’t any other good seats, Wei Ying will tell herself later. Da-jie drops into her own usual spot next to Huan-jie, arms spreading wide to take over a solid half of the long couch. Huaisang is in their recliner, Mo Xuanyu on the floor and leaning against their shins. Wen Ning has his legs stretched out on the short couch, knees over Song Lan’s lap and feet in Xiao Xingchen’s. Wen Qing and Qin Su are curled up together on the loveseat. And Mianmian and Lan Zhan are taking up the rest of the big couch. With Lan Zhan in Wei Ying’s fucking seat.

Which means. That. Wei Ying can either crush herself into the corner of the loveseat -- she could probably fit there with Wen Qing and Qin Su if she tried; none of the three of them take up too much space. Or she can sit on the floor. Or.

Wei Ying likes her seat, is the thing. (It’s the angles, she rationalizes to absolutely nobody.) And she’s not sitting at Lan Zhan’s fucking feet, so… So.

She grabs two coasters from the basket to set the drinks on -- she’s already refinished this coffee table twice and she’d rather not add to the watermarks she’ll eventually have to sand out again later -- and then plops herself down directly in Lan Zhan’s lap.

Lan Zhan makes a tiny oof sound, like her breath was forced from her lungs, but she doesn’t resist. She, in fact, wraps an arm around Wei Ying’s waist and resettles them both into the seat with one easy, fluid motion that belies altogether far too much core strength. (And far too little shock or outrage.)

It’s… annoyingly comfortable.

Nie Huiasang snorts into their beer, Lan Huan makes a choking sound that is quickly muffled, and Nie Mingjue clears her throat.

The movie starts almost immediately.

Wei Ying leans her weight back against Lan Zhan’s chest, angling herself so she’s not blocking the screen -- she’s not unreasonable -- and tucking a foot behind Lan Zhan’s ankle to keep herself steady.

She’s grateful for the darkness of late evening and thick curtains as she feels her cheeks get even warmer. (In the corner of her eye, she thinks she can see Mianmian looking very pointedly at the TV, but it’s hard to tell because Wei Ying is unwilling to look more directly and risk drawing attention.)

It’s oppressively hot outside -- late June, deep summer in the Sonoran Desert before the monsoons come to cool it down. Wei Ying is wearing leggings only because Mingjue-jie has an A/C that works and she likes to keep her house at a crisp 62 degrees Fahrenheit. Wei Ying assumes that’s also why Lan Zhan is capable of wearing jeans in this weather. Now, two layers of fabric separate skin from skin and the summer heat begins to creep back into Wei Ying’s chest despite Nie Mingjue’s very functional temperature control.

She reaches for her mug and sips at her wine without tasting it.

On the screen, Jet Li is stripped naked surrounded by dozens of men in black armor (ah, they’ve made it to the early aughts), and is led into the hall of the Qin king.

Wei Ying tries to follow the story. Watches as Jet Li and Chen Daoming begin their high-contrast, highly-saturated verbal sparring match. She’s seen the film before, so it’s both easier and more difficult than if the story was brand new. Easier in that she already vaguely knows what’s going on. Harder in that she realizes she’s missed opportunities to comment only well after they’ve passed, which only serves to make her frustrated with herself.

Lan Zhan shifts them again. It’s fine. No problems. Another too-easy flex of abs and biceps that makes Wei Ying feel hot all over. Whatever.

But then Lan Zhan just… leaves her hand on Wei Ying’s thigh. Like it belongs there. Like it’s not searing through the stretched-thin cotton of Wei Ying’s yoga pants. Lan Zhan’s fingers are long. Wei Ying isn’t exactly small, her legs are built from Wing Chun and the years of soccer she played as a teenager. And yet. And yet while Lan Zhan’s palm rests (chastely) on the top of Wei Ying’s quadricep, her fingers wrap (obscenely) around the muscle to brand her fingerprints into the sensitive skin of Wei Ying’s inner thigh.

Wei Ying does her best not to flinch or tense with the feeling. She thinks she manages it. Mostly.

She, maybe, managed it less than she thought because a few minutes later when Donny Yen falls to Jet Li she notices that she’s much more relaxed. Internally she shakes it off and just hopes Lan Zhan didn’t notice.

Lan Zhan definitely noticed. Wei Ying knows she did because as soon as Wei Ying is relaxed enough, Lan Zhan’s palm gets heavier, her fingers spread wider, and then she-- And then--

It’s slow. Subtle. A gentle back and forth, fingertips brushing up and down the soft inseam of Wei Ying’s leggings.

Electricity follows the motion, crackling beneath her skin until she swears she can feel the goosebumps rising in Lan Zhan’s wake. Even the smooth twist of Lan Zhan’s wrist, the shifting of the heel of her palm where it presses against Wei Ying’s leg, even that is distracting. The sensation rides the branches of Wei Ying’s nerves down to her toes and back up to her pussy.

It’s torturous. Fucking overwhelming. How--?

Wei Ying cannot pay attention to the movie while Lan Zhan is doing that. She cannot, in fact, pay attention to anything other than her own breath, her own heartbeat. They’re both quicker and shallower than they should be. But Wei Ying meditated regularly as a teenager, she should be able to get her shit back under control.

She cannot get her shit back under control.

She tries counting out her breaths, but then she ends up gasping for air and there’s only so many times she can hide that under a laugh or a cough. So she tries focusing on her heartbeat instead. Calming her mind, slowing herself down.

It starts to work. Wei Ying finds that her breath is slowing, too. Becoming steadier.

Lan Zhan huffs something like a laugh against her neck again and Wei Ying realizes her breath is slower because it’s following the slower strokes of Lan Zhan’s fingers on Wei Ying’s thigh.

She’s not in control of herself at all.

Heat rises in her cheeks, in her chest. She refuses to recognize it anywhere else. This is already mortifying enough, thanks.

The control Lan Zhan has over her is… the worst. Obviously. It’s-- It’s terrible.

She needs… she needs to get even.

This whole night has felt like Wei Ying is one play behind Lan Zhan. Like she’s constantly catching up. Maybe she’s still catching up, but maybe she can do something about it.

She leans forward to set her mug back down on the coffee table and Lan Zhan’s fingers clench around Wei Ying’s thigh.

It’s not an admonishment. Not a retaliation. No. It’s too wild for that, too immediate. It’s a reaction. Involuntary, too, if the subsequent tremble is anything to go by.

Wei Ying smiles.

She readjusts herself in Lan Zhan’s lap. Nothing much. Just a short little wiggle of her hips, a purposeful grind into Lan Zhan’s crotch.

The tiny breath that escapes Lan Zhan is quite possibly the sweetest sound Wei Ying has ever heard.

And then it’s on.

Over the course of the next hour, the movie plays and Wei Ying barely notices the shift in color schemes. It takes all of her attention to keep the game subtle, unnoticeable to the others in the room. Luckily the big couch is long enough that there is actually some room between them and Mianmian. (Mianmian is definitely watching the film with non-zero levels of determination which Wei Ying notes, but she’s too distracted to be much more than passively grateful.) The darkness and the surround sound are also on her side, but where Lan Zhan only really has to control her own reactions, Wei Ying has to consider each and every time she wants to fight back with a roll of her hips. Hip rolling is not nearly as easy to hide as (distressingly arousing) finger strokes.

But fight back she does.

Every rushed inhale, every uncontrolled hand twitch, curls the corners of Wei Ying’s lips with smug satisfaction. Lan Zhan’s retaliations inch her fingertips higher and higher up Wei Ying’s inner thigh until her thumb is nearly brushing the hem of Wei Ying’s shirt. The competition of it, the game, drives the tension higher, the pleasure deeper. Wei Ying only manages to keep herself from moaning out loud by focusing on Lan Zhan -- Lan Zhan’s every motion and sound as the ripples of each are passed between their skin.

Lan Zhan’s heart beats against Wei Ying’s spine, her breath ghosts across Wei Ying’s neck and shoulders. The world fades away until only the two of them exist in it.

Occasionally the film will filter back into Wei Ying’s awareness. Da-jie will scoff a choice in the choreography, or Huaisang will comment on color theory and aesthetic facism. Wei Ying will be reminded that they are actually in the company of friends, and that they are, ostensibly, all here to watch a movie together. She will also remember that usually it’s her own voice making up the bulk of the commentary, and immediately lose that thought to another indecently placed strum of Lan Zhan’s fingers.

Time passes both absurdly quickly and obscenely slowly. The film jumps forward and then stops, pausing for Lan Zhan to drive Wei Ying gradually toward insanity. Wei Ying is uncomfortably wet, but she can also feel how warm Lan Zhan’s body has become behind and beneath her. There is an intensity to each breath that ghosts along the back of Wei Ying’s neck, scattering up into the short hair of her undercut -- not labored, but… intense. Fevered. Hot.

And then it’s over.

The credits roll. People begin to stir. Mianmian is off the couch faster than anyone else can get their feet under them, expressing an urgent need to use the restroom.

Wei Ying slides off Lan Zhan’s lap and into Mianmian’s vacated seat. The couch is so much colder than Lan Zhan’s lap had been, which is… good. Probably. Definitely. Wei Ying desperately needs to cool off. And she could use a moment to… reign herself in before standing. And maybe somehow trick Huaisang into bringing her her flannel to tie around her waist. Or something.

Almost as soon as Wei Ying has moved, Lan Zhan is up and following Mianmian down the hall to the bathroom.

It makes something strange twist in Wei Ying’s gut. She’s not sure why. (And she will not be examining it right now, thank you.) It leaves her sitting alone on the couch, tucking her toes up under her own thighs in a very loose lotus pose.

She feels Mingjue-jie’s A/C hit her skin, goosebumps rising on her arms.

Nie Huaisang flops down next to her and, far too loudly, says, “Wow, Wei Ying! I think that’s the quietest you’ve ever been during a movie.” They grin wide like the traitor they are as the focus of the room shifts to Wei Ying.

Qin Su snickers into Wen Qing’s shoulder and adds, “Looks like Lan Zhan finally figured out how to shut you up.”

Blood rushes to Wei Ying’s cheeks.

She has no defense to offer them, though. She was uncharacteristically quiet, and it was Lan Zhan’s fault. But she’s not exactly going to say that out loud if she can help it.

Her body is still buzzing with arousal, unsated and confusing. Humiliation feels sickly sweet in her throat. But not, necessarily, in a bad way. Definitely in a way she’d rather not share with her friends. Especially while it’s still happening.

“I mean,” she says, tongue thick in her mouth, “maybe I just wanted to watch the movie, for once.” It falls flat and she knows it, but she’s not sure she can do anything about it right now. She just wants to leave. Immediately, if possible. “Whatever,” she says. “Sangsang, my head hurts. Can we go home?”

Huaisang gives her a look. A knowing look. But nods and -- with no small amount of amusement in their eyes -- hands Wei Ying her flannel shirt. Because they really are a good roommate. And also they see way too much.

Wei Ying takes the shirt gratefully, and lets Huaisang shuffle her out of the house before Lan Zhan can return.

“You good?” they ask, once they’re in the car.

“Yeah!” says Wei Ying. “Just a headache.”

Neither of them believe her.

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blood-starved-beast · 2 years

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Redemption arc squad for the bingo (Acxa/Farnese/Zuko/Riven/etc)

Redemption Arc squad yes (Did not include Zethrid and Ezor cause redemption - for what? Doing hot girl shit?) To start, here's the original so people have ease of access to see.

Send me more asks if you'd like me to say more.

First, Acxa

Unsurprisingly, she's the one who gets the bingo. Excluding a few others in the fandom, people get her wrong like the amount of parentfication she gets in the fandom is frankly insane why can't fandom be normal about her (saying this, as I proceed to not be normal about her). Her arc is great, and one of the few in vld that made sense, surprisingly enough. Only reason I don't give her the best is cause Haggar/Honerva is there. Of course saying so would be hitting the wasp's nest. She definitely should've gotten more screentime, and they wasted the fact that she worked with Haggar in s8 especially. Keith knew she was with Haggar in the Kral Zera no one bothered to ask her anything??? We should've gotten a backstory flashback in act 2 in my opinion. The way she went around backstabbing people like 10 times but you know she wasn't planning this shit out is the funniest thing what is wrong with her indeed.

Next, Zuko

Zuko, I don't have much opinions about as he was written very good and I'm pretty much satisfied with how the writers went about him. I'd say he gets top spot in Atla for best writing cause Aang's near perfect arc was messed up with the dumb thing to have his avatar state reopened by some random rock. Especially when the world building established that it was an emotional-psychological-spiritual thing. In that sense, Zuko was consistently the best. Zuko's most popular pairings suck and I almost forgot to put this cause my atla fandom experience was literally ten years ago but then I remembered zukk@. Zut@ra I never liked which is rich coming from me who likes friggin Rivelia but my excuse is that my fandom experience was shaped by exposure to that friggin ship war from way back then and that spoiled a lot for me. Katara deserves better and she's not a fixer, at least, not for Zuko she would. Fandom woobification besides that, annoys me especially when he can get all toxic masculinity sometimes (this was a thing established at the Beach ep). His arc is one that I'm always referencing so you could say I'm pretty obsessed with it. If you'd ask me about him 8 years ago I feel like I'd say more but I'm long overdue for an atla rewatch so I'd have to refresh.

Now Farnese

Farnese has one of the more interesting arcs in media I've seen recently. She's a bitch with little freudian excuse and does a lot of horrific things to boot. And YET her redemption arc is so so good Miura was a master at his craft Rest in Peace. I think she'd benefit more from screentime but this is just me wanting a good Berserk adaption post golden age. Her best character work is when she works with Casca and Schierke imho.

Finally, Riven

Riven I love a lot but she hasn't reached Meow-Meow stage to get the bingo (for League, that award I think, would go to Irelia). Her fandom reception is weird though, but that depends on who you look to. The cismale fans are really gross with her, and the friggin battle bunny skin is atrocious. The original that is. Which was a fan-inspired skin by the way. That and her popularity among this cohort really messed with her characterization, even in the writers room cause I'd feel like she should be Butch, but cause of it has since seen a more femme-mization in her splashart and other media. As with most non-arcane characters she needs more lore. I'd like to see a Zelda styled game for example, where she tries to atone for her war crimes in Ionia by helping people etc. Besides that I could see her working with Rell, Irelia, others. Sentinels of Light did her so dirty worse than Irelia for sure (maybe not as bad as Pyke or Rengar, but still). There were so many ways to handle that but they did her and Irelia's arc in the most superficial way that I'm dog-bites-cage-rail.jpg all about how it could've been done better. Btw, her popular ships suck cause they are with Yasuo, who I don't really like, and *shudders* Zac. Rivelia is next on the list after that but I do like that, but I have ~ issues ~ with how it was handled but also most fandom content for it is not my cup of tea at all (WHERE IS THE SPICE???).

Thanks for the ask Cat!

For everyone else, here is the original post.

#Acxa #Prince Zuko #Farnese #Riven Konte #vld #atla #Berserk #League of legends #character ask bingo #d asks

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qqueenofhades · 3 years

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20+ Books That You (Might Actually Want) To Read During Pride Month!

Right, so. I got annoyed after seeing the list referenced in this post last night, told myself that my books are all packed up so I couldn’t do anything about it, and lasted all of a whopping 10 minutes before picking up my phone and attempting to make my own list instead. Behold, my from-memory attempt to present 20 books with strong LGBTQ plots, characters, and/or authors, that DON’T just rely on Suffering and Identity Politics and are... you know... fun.

Listed in alphabetical order by title. Links take you to Bookshop.org, where you can buy them from your local independent bookstore at a discount and NOT from the evil empire.

1. A Master of Djinn – P. Djeli Clark * author of color * steampunk Cairo in 1912 * djinn! magic! murder mystery! * butch Arab lesbian main character * devout hijabi Muslim badass assistant * anticolonial alternate history

2. An Accident of Stars – Foz Meadows (Sequel: A Tyranny of Queens) * trans author * bi, pan, trans, aro representation * racially diverse characters * all female POV characters * high-fantasy world adventures

3. Boyfriend Material – Alexis Hall * queer author * look I love this book SO MUCH and have absolutely screamed about it before but also I LOVE IT SO MUCH * contemporary M/M fake dating in modern London, complete with full cast of disaster found-family queer friends * it is. fucking. HILARIOUS. I almost died the first time reading it * there is a sequel called HUSBAND MATERIAL scheduled to be released in 2022; I am a normal amount of excited for this book

4. Gideon the Ninth – Tamsyn Muir (Sequel: Harrow the Ninth) * the book cover says “Lesbian necromancers explore a haunted palace in space!” * that is exactly what you get * slow-burn enemies-to-lovers F/F main romance * I cannot describe this book, it is dark, genre-bendy, science fiction-y, Hunger-Games-with-lesbian-necromancers-in space? Kinda? I have literally never read anything like it * also fucking HILARIOUS

5. One Last Stop – Casey McQuiston * queer author (who wrote Red White and Royal Blue) * bisexual fat girl from the South/lesbian-daughter-of-Chinese immigrants from the 1970s-riot-grrl main romance * time traveling mystery involving the Q train in Brooklyn (mentions Brighton Beach ahem) * magical realism * many more found-family chaotic queers including a trans Latino psychic and a Black accountant by day/drag queen by night and the mean little gay disaster who has a hopeless crush on them

6. Parasol Protectorate (series) – Gail Carriger * this is one of my favorite series, and there are five books: Soulless, Changeless, Blameless, Heartless, and Timeless * steampunk vampires/werewolves late Victorian London, like Jane Austen crossed with P.G. Wodehouse (they are all fucking hilarious) * pretty much everyone is queer; we got your flamboyantly camp gay vampires (Lord Akeldama ftw!) We got your gay werewolves! We got your lesbian French inventors! We got your big disaster idiot werewolf main male love interest! We got your crazy adventures! You name it we got it! * two spin-off novellas: Romancing the Werewolf (M/M) and Romancing the Inventor (F/F) * she has a ton more books in this same universe and writes sexy queer supernatural romance as G.L. Carriger

7. Plain Bad Heroines – Emily M. Danforth * queer author * historical horror-comedy set between a haunted girls’ school in early-1900s New England and in the modern day * all sapphic female main characters * plays with style/form/voice, a story within a story within a story

8. Red White and Royal Blue – Casey McQuiston * you’ve probably heard of it but here I am reccing it again * the biracial son of the first female POTUS falls in love with the Prince of England; shenanigans absolutely ensue * yes, the British monarchy still absolutely sucks a big fat dick * hilarious, heartfelt, reads like fanfic, just go get it, it will change your life

9. Rosaline Palmer Takes The Cake – Alexis Hall * same author as Boyfriend Material, this is his newest * bisexual female protagonist * absolutely perfect satire of The Great British Bake Off (you can tell this man has watched EVERY SINGLE SERIES and all of the holiday specials) * sweet and surprisingly thoughtful

10. Starless – Jacqueline Carey * genderqueer/transmasculine main character of color * almost all main characters are brown people! * lush Middle Eastern/India-inspired fantasy world * gods, prophecies, monsters * the best Oh God Why Me I Am A Horrible Mentor wise-old-mentor

11. The Future of Another Timeline – Annalee Newitz * nonbinary (they/them) author * time travel but make it The Handmaid’s Tale * will probably make your head explode * feminist, queer, subversive * diverse characters

12. The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue – Mackenzi Lee * queer author * technically YA but historical/magical adventure set in the 1700s * bisexual disaster main protagonist and love interest of color * (mis)adventures across Europe * has a sequel (see below) with the badass asexual sister of the protagonist

13. The Hate Project – Kris Ripper * nonbinary/genderqueer author * M/M enemies to lovers/sex with no strings attached (spoiler alert: strings attached) * HECKING HILARIOUS * sweet, escapist, and very low stakes * diverse characters, including fat protagonist with realistic anxiety disorder

14. The Lady's Guide to Petticoats and Piracy – Mackenzi Lee * PIRATES, obviously * sequel to Gentleman’s Guide * asexual female protagonist * strong queerplatonic f/f friendship * more historical/magical 18th century adventures

15. The Last Rune (series) – Mark Anthony * Imma be real with you chief, I haven’t read this series since I was a clueless teenager with no idea why I liked Gay Stuff so much, so if it does turn out to suck now, don’t throw rotten veggies at me * but especially since it was written in the NINETIES, this series was hella progressive?! * gay characters, disabled characters, characters of color, all playing significant and heroic roles in six-book epic fantasy cycle * people from Earth end up in high-fantasy world of Eldh * endgame M/M romance for the main character * books out of print, I think, but you can find them cheap somewhere like AbeBooks; first one (Beyond the Pale) linked above

16. The Library of the Unwritten – A.J. Hackwith * queer author * heaven-hell-Valhalla supernatural adventures * The Good Place x Good Omens x Lucifer x The Librarians * Pansexual Black badass female heroine * Queer found families * The Sassiest TM Bisexual Villain Turned Reluctant Hero (is he my favorite? Why on earth would you think that.)

17. The Priory of the Orange Tree – Samantha Shannon * epic doorstopper science fiction/historical fantasy set in a vaguely 16th-century world * main F/F romance between a queen and her sorceress bodyguard * sassy old gay alchemist whose backstory will give you Feelings * so many strong women and characters of color * no homophobia! marriage is fully gender-neutral, spouses are called “companions”

18. The Song of Achilles – Madeline Miller * likewise one you have probably heard of but still * a little light on the myth/historical part imho, but the writing is beautiful and will give you many feelings * M/M romance between Achilles and Patroclus * reimagining of The Iliad (her other book Circe is also really good)

19 The Stars are Legion – Kameron Hurley * all-female apocalyptic space opera * messy messy antiheroines * grimdark war fantasy * queer sci-fi drama

20. Witchmark – C.L. Polk * author of color * M/M romance * main character is a veteran and a doctor dealing with his own hidden magic and repressed war trauma * gaslamp fantasy set in a world reminiscent of post-WWI England * strong sibling relationship

#book recs #book recommendations #bookblr #happy pride #pride month #lgbtqia #long post

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yrbutchgf · 3 years

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what are soft butch and hard femme? i really like the aesthetics but i know that's not what butch/femme is about in its whole so i wonder if those descriptors are made up about looks or if they actually come from the culture and i know that butch/femme isn't a sliding scale of masculinity and femininity but sometimes its hard to feel that i can be femme bc i like alt styles and am not hyperfeminine so the so called hard femme label feels like it fits idk

soft butch is its own can of worms -- suffice it to say many butches, including me, dislike the term soft butch for the implications it casts on butches who don't identify themselves as "soft." there's a LOT to talk about there, though, so honestly i'll save that for another post, if anyone's interested in hearing about it. hard femme, on the other hand, is a different story!

while femme and butch are not solely aesthetic descriptors, sometimes the variants you see of the terms, like hard femme especially, can be very aesthetic-focused, even though they are from the culture themselves! from what i've run into, hard femme is exactly the kind of thing you're describing -- rough and tumble femmes who adopt alt, punkish and gnc fashion and may come off as somewhat of tomboys, but who still base themselves steadfastly in femmeness. i asked about hard femme identity in the butch/femme discord i'm in, and one hard femme, iggy (19, she/he/they), had this to say on the subject:

just note its my personal opinion/the meaning ive found in the term, i havent done a ton of research so its not the objective definition or anything lol.

For me at least its about embracing things that arent traditionally feminine while still keeping ur feminine identity. Not to say other fems have to be traditional/conformist, we're just different types of femininity. So Im not a gentle person, Im not a nurturing person, Im not a soft and tender person. I was a tomboy growing up so what someone said earlier about tomboy fem resonates too. All these things and more Im having trouble describing make me feel like i couldnt traditionally be feminine/a woman. But hard fem feels like it gives me space to be all that and still present and relate to others how I like. Its almost like having a 'butch' personality but preferring fem presentation? Thats the best way i can describe it, like yes theres an aesthetic part but its a reflection of a deeper energy.

I'm not sure about the terms coinage or if theres a more official definition. Afaik it was actually in reaction to soft butch, seeing it as being insulting to other butches and almost making butch more palatable to people outside the community. And we said ok fuck you we're hard fem. I personally think anti-assimilationist politics are another important part of hard femme. It generally refuses to be confined or made to conform.

I have more to say bc its like my whole identity but i gotta get to work so i hope that essay is enough lmfao

he also said that vander von odd often calls themself a hard femme. here's a pic of vampira/maila nurmi, another hard femme, as well as a pic of kay kaos @revoltpunx on ig, which several people in the server identified as a great example of hard femme presentation:

so yeah, hard femme means pretty much exactly what you identified it as :) to me, it sounds like you probably are a hard femme, and if you are, welcome to a long and storied history of kickass femmes that absolutely wreck house!

#asks #anonymous #hard femme #femme tag #gnc tag #gnc femme #tomboy femme

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gynandromorph · 3 years

Text

on a personal tangent, i've been thinking about masculinity and what it means to me, especially as i am regularly interpreted as a man by strangers. a lot of thoughts on masculinity i hear from men, and in a lot of ways, i don't really relate. additionally, i'm not really masculine in a way men frequently find to be the epitome of their gender, but i'm absolutely still masculine. nonetheless, i do think that saying butches are never emulating men is inaccurate (i do get where it's coming from, though), with the gender envy and all. moreover, i think even lesbians attracted to butches for example, expect a picture of masculinity i don't really resonate with, and it often leaves me a little shell-shocked to realize i'm being boxed into another, separate cage of a specific, desirable performance that i will be punished for failing to deliver by being stripped of my masculinity, while experiencing the punishment for acting naturally in a way that fails to be feminine. i can easily see that the performance is generally also beneficial for the person expecting it -- yes, it would be nice if i wanted to remodel your basement and fix your car for you as long as you pay me in gender validation (or warm beer), wouldn't it, and so on. knowing that the masculinity i feel inside me feels intrinsically alien to men's masculinity, while men are paraded as the harbingers and owners of masculinity, as well as alienated from the idea of what makes a butch from the changing femme gaze i've grown to desire and consider the "other half" that creates the definition of this gender, forces me to question what the masculinity is, what it means, if it even is masculinity, and how i would know. i've noticed for a while, slowly accumulating a passive motivation to deliver the performance expected of me, which eventually feels like a natural motivation, rather than an adopted compromise. it makes me wonder how much of gender is supposed to feel forced, propelled by the desperation to be seen as such, and why i would want to be seen as something that i have to change myself to be, and what makes performing a forced "butch" so much less agonizing than performing a forced "woman." i think of men who spend their lives playing a warrior fighting a lifelong war defending their masculinity as they refuse to compromise vulnerable parts of themselves, and men who waste their lives "toughing out" the repression of their less masculine parts to perform menial and dangerous labor because it's their role, and i see them both as masculinity, but i don't know which one is supposed to be my masculinity. i notice they both include an element of forced performance and focus on perception, and i continue to wonder if that's "normal." i wonder what the amusement and buzz about being perceived as a man by a stranger means, if perception plays such a large role in gender, and what it means when it's only excitement when it's a fun little secret the perceiver isn't in on, but dysphoria if i was viewed that way by someone close, or if that even matters. for a while, my masculinity was that failure to perform femininity or desire performing it, which came naturally, and the performance of that masculinity was almost accentuating that failure, embellishing it into an ironic and unironic badge of honor. whereas men experience femininity as a separate axis, as men can be men and feminine, or men and ambivalent to or repulsed by femininity, butch is to be Not Feminine. it feels very strange that this isn't good enough nowadays and strange to not really have answers for my questions

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bills-pokedex · 4 years

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Perhaps out of season to ask a question like this, but do you know of any other pokemon with similar folklore as Luvdisc? I find the different stories about people seeking Luvdisc out or Luvdisc appearing to be pretty strange, especially since it's so strongly tied to its concept despite not acting significantly unlike other fish-like pokemon... And of course, how they're apparently hunted for their scales in many areas, makes me a little sad and worried.

I have no idea what you mean, anonymous; this is the perfect season for it.

[Bill, this was submitted in February. —LH

The perfect season indeed. —Bill]

On a serious note, if you mean folklore related to love specifically...

Perhaps most famously, it’s believed in some parts of northwest Hoenn that if a couple were to watch the summer courtship dances between volbeat and illumise, they would be blessed with love. Of course, this belief hinges on keeping both pokémon wild, so they’re not often sought out the way luvdisc are.

Johtonians (especially those from the mountains in the east) have similar beliefs to the volbeat-and-illumise-seeking Hoennians, but with ledyba and ledian. In fact, there’s a tradition among Johtonians that states if you catch a ledyba and immediately release it, it will find its way to your one true love and whisper your name into their ear. Between this and the line’s general association with good luck, ledyba and ledian enjoy quite a bit of popularity among young, hopeful romantics.

Of course, in many western cultures, members of the roselia line are classic symbols of love, and in some countries, it’s even customary to give your significant other a freshly caught budew as a proposal gift, often in addition to engagement rings. This very likely stems from roserade’s associations with love goddesses in these cultures. Aphrodite, for example, supposedly kept two as handmaidens.

(Sinnoh considers roserade a symbol of love as well, but it actually has less to do with Aphrodite and other western gods and goddesses of love and more to do with an ancient story about a young man with a roserade partner who helped him build a bridge to the moon in order to reach his love. Yes, you read that correctly. Some Sinnohan folktales are ... strange.)

In Kalos, there are an abundance of symbols of love, but perhaps most popular are those about florges, likely due to its prevalence in well-maintained gardens. Not only did this mean florges was a common chaperone for the wealthy in their romantic pursuits, but also, florges was a common pokémon to be used in certain romantic plays of the day. One thing led to another, and florges and its preevolutions became just as common as roserade when it comes to gifts one should give their partners.

In parts of Italy, clamperl are often caught for romantic luck, and this is for two reasons. First, besides roserade, Aphrodite’s Roman counterpart Venus was often associated with clamperl. (It’s even said that she had emerged from a discarded clamperl shell.) The second reason is that clamperl flesh is thought to be an aphrodisiac. (It’s not.) Consequently, clamperl there sadly are sought out in much the same way luvdisc are in Hoenn.

Actually, any pokémon whose flesh or byproducts are either actual or supposed aphrodisiacs receive the same treatment. This includes shellder and cloyster, wailord (for their ambergris), tropius (for their bananas), and ducklett (for their eggs).

In Unova, swanna are symbols of love, and in fact, collecting pretty feathers (particularly ones that have just fallen off a swanna’s back) is a common thing to do if you’re hoping to give your lover a gift. Pretty wings are especially seen as traditional gifts to female lovers, as it essentially says their partners consider them to be as graceful and elegant as the swanna themselves.

Also in Unova, it’s said that if a wild audino wraps its feeler around your wrist, you should follow it, as it may lead you to your true love. (Or, well, an injured pokémon. Either or, really.)

In some parts of Europe, applin are seen as symbols of long-lasting love and even sexuality, as they’re associated with Hera, but it should be noted that this isn’t true for all parts of Europe, as in certain cultures, it’s traditionally seen as a symbol of knowledge or bears rather unfortunate religious connotations.

In Alola, many couples make wishes on minior showers. This stems from an older tradition in which, if a couple saw a minior fall to earth, one of them would pledge to go after it. Should they succeed in capturing that exact minior and bringing it back to their lover, then that’s a sign that their love will endure, which in turn means bringing a minior back to your loved one intact had been, in those days, tantamount to proposing. It’s not really a tradition that’s well-observed these days, though.

And just for clarification, pokémon that, contrary to what you might expect, do not have romantic connotations:

Alomomola. In Unova and other regions where it’s native, this luvdisc-shaped pokémon is not really so much a pokémon associated with love as it is good health. This is really because of its healing abilities and tendency to seek out injured sea pokémon in order to heal them. It’s also seen as a symbol of good luck among seafaring cultures (particularly in Alola), as sailors would often keep them for their aforementioned healing abilities—which is to say, the ships that came back from long voyages with almost all of their hands (both literal and in the sense of people working the ship) still accounted for often had at least one alomomola among its crew.

The chansey line. This one is less of love and more of happiness, though, yes, studies have shown that single people who owned blissey were more likely to enter a relationship in any given year. However, this is less about luck and more about the fact that blissey, in an effort to make their owners happy, will actively look for potential mates for them.

The clefairy line. Again, less about love and more about general luck—that is, seeing one will grant a person luck in general. It’s still a popular pokémon to give to one’s girlfriend, though, but this is usually because all three members of this line are extremely cute and very cat-like.

Sylveon. You would think that a pokémon whose evolution hinges on how affectionate one is with them would be associated with love, but actually, sylveon are highly possessive pokémon and are therefore, if anything, often seen as potential sources of bad luck with love.

Most pokémon with male or female counterparts (including but not limited to: indeedee, the nidoran lines, gardevoir and gallade, and tauros and miltank). While it’s common for couples to try to obtain matching pokémon (it’s especially common among straight couples and couples that like to toy with butch/femme stereotypes), the pokémon themselves are not actually seen as symbols of love or pokémon capable of granting good luck in love (or sex). The exception, as noted above, is volbeat and illumise.

#asks #long post #pokemon headcanon #pokemon headcanons #pokemon worldbuilding #our world

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bunnythefandomwriter · 4 years

Text

Seed Family Animal Crossing New Horizons:

Joseph:

His island is called New Eden can’t change my mind on this

Named himself Father

Title would also include father (Thinking either Reliable or Friendly)

Loves all his villagers no matter how they look.

Everyone is welcome in New Eden after all

Sends gifts to both his family members and villagers almost daily

Would want to have 3 villagers that come close to his family.

Fluffy for Faith, either Keaton or Lopez for John and either Lobo or Grizzly for Jacob

Doesn’t cheat or time skip at all, plays at least an hour or 2 a day. He is a very patient man

His home will most likely have one of the rooms to look like the inside of a church

The rest is surprisingly cozy

His other remaining villagers would be most likely those who are often considered ugly or not wanted; Elise, Chops, Freckles, Rodney, Gloria, T-Bone and Bella

Besties with all of them

John:

You bet your ass this man cheated his way to a 5 star island.

Island is most likely airplane or sky related.

Title would probably be along the lines of Flying gifted one or something like that

His island is surprisingly well designed and does look like a fancy rich neighborhood.

Definitely has wallpaper in home with airplanes on it. Probably even made the design himself so it’s his plane. (most likely in his bedroom)

The main room is based of his ranch.

Designed some of his clothes in game as well

Only fancy looking villagers are allowed to live on HIS Island and would buy amiibo cards to replace his ugly ones. (Joseph adopted Rodney from him)

Would teach his villagers inappropriate catchphrases or make them say YES.

Speaking of Yes, just in front of his airport there is pattern that says: SAY YES on top of his road

Rich in bells because of turnips and he totally abused the duplicate glitch with help of Jacob

Definitely plays multiple hours a day. He even once played 24 hours because he was making his island perfect. Did get scolded by Joseph afterwards

Villagers would include: Alli, Ankha, Olivia, Kitty, Raymond, Julian, Marshal, Colton, Blanche and Pecan

His cat villagers are his favorites.

Jacob:

Only started playing after John and Faith kept bugging him about it

He won’t admit it but the game actually helps him relax

Island name would probably be quite normal compared to his brothers.

As a Title he decided to call himself respected grandpa, John now call him grandpa

Everything is very organized in his island. Sometimes looks more like a military base

Got quite some bells because of the duplicate glitch. Aside from that Jacob barely cheats but he does turn back the clock if he wasn’t able to play a few days. He even keeps track of the dates when he was able to play.

His home is more of a family home mixed with a few gym equipment.

Enjoys fishing and probably got the golden fishing rod before anyone else in his family.

Like Joseph he likes to send gifts to his family, but he doesn’t see the point in writing letters to villagers.

His villagers are Wolfs or Dogs.

His villagers would include: Skyle, Fang, Wolfgang, Audie, Freya, Vivian, Butch, Daisy, Shep and Cherry

Best friends with Audie, thinks the story of the grandma is very touching. Butch is his spirit animal

Faith

Definitely the first one to get the game.

Her island reached 5 stars the legit way.

Island would be called The Bliss

Title is most likely Flower-Loving Free Spirit

Actually owns a lot of amiibo cards because she collected them when she was playing on the 3ds

Her island is mostly nature and a lot of white flowers.

Her home most likely done in pastel colors and she made a full on home including kitchen and bathroom.

Lot of her clothes are white.

Really jealous on John for having Marshal. She would also love Fluffy but is touched by Joseph picking fluffy to be his faith on his island.

Plays almost as much as John but does keep a healthy life style. Some hours are also Faith leaving her switch on standby mode while she is doing her work.

Her villagers would be cute and a lot are white or pink and a lot more females.

Calls them her angels and sends letters to them daily.

Her villagers would include: Gayle, Annalisa, Lolly, Bob, Judy, Maple, Fuchsia, Cookie, Flora & Whitney

Loves them all but is especially in love with Whitney which she was allowed to take over from Jacob.

#Far Cry 5 #seed family #joseph seed #john seed #jacob seed #faith seed #Headcanon #fc5 headcanon #acnh

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dispatched-a · 3 years

Text

——— BASICS! ♡

(PEN)NAME! ♡ lou

PRONOUNS! ♡ he / they

ZODIAC SIGN! ♡ virgo moon, taurus moon, leo rising.

TAKEN OR SINGLE! ♡ single 😼

——— THREE FACTS! ♡

1! ♡ i am SUPER into making lists. i don’t know if it’s because i’m autistic, have ADHD, or because i’m a virgo – probably all three? – but i literally love making lists and spreadsheets. i also love organizing and sorting stuff. i will find a reason to make a list for literally just about anything. right now, i’m working on tackling this list of the shows i want to watch.

2! ♡ i can make my tongue form into a clover (three-sided) which is probably gross and i won’t embed a picture here, but showing it off has gotten me past at least 2 different forms of hazing so i feel like it’s worth mentioning at the very least.

3! ♡ most of you likely know that one of my special interests is history, specifically working class interpretations/tellings of history. i’m always looking to learn and educate myself more, but i can spew off a bunch of obscure facts about most points of american history which is... a lot. i spent 3 years in uni for history and almost got my certificate in queer studies before i dropped out and i might change my course of study now that i’m back in uni, but i now consequently own an obscene amount of books on imperial america. i may not shut up if asked about post/911 history or anything having to do with the bush presidency, or the war in vietnam/cambodia/laos. i’m sorry to anyone whose dm’s ive unleashed in before, lmfao. because of all of this, i feel like i enjoy writing essays and am better at academic writing than prose, which gives me a complex about my prose being too dry and not poetic enough so, fun times.

——— EXPERIENCE! ♡

PLATFORMS USED! ♡ at the moment, i use tumblr and discord, and i sparsely use dreamwidth. before, i’ve used facebook and livejournal, and occasionally youtube, which is how i got into roleplay about 10 years ago.

——— MUSE PREFERENCE! ♡

GENDER! ♡ i’ve always gravitated toward writing men and i was not self-aware enough to know my discomfort in writing women has always had to do with projecting my personal Butch Gender Envy and my own discomfort with societal notions of womanhood – however, now i can write any gender. at this point, i tend to be drawn toward nb/trans muses.

LEAST FAVOURITE FACE(S)! ♡ i don’t HATE any faces i guess, but i dislike fc’s that are super popular or obviously the very problematic ones. the rpc tends to cycle through a favorite face 1-2 times a year. like semi-related, i guess, but: never forget the 2016-2017 e/iza g/onzales fixation, and the amber heard fixation that i feel like only recently ended but began circa 2012. and yes, ive been on this website for WAY too long.

MULTI OR SINGLE! ♡ i’m fine with interacting with either! for myself, i have frank and a multi-muse, which is how i tend to operate. i cannot operate more than 1-2 blogs at once, especially single muse blogs.

——— FLUFF / ANGST / SMUT! ♡

FLUFF: i love fluff! but it’s not all i enjoy. a big issue i’ve had is constantly perpetuating slice-of-life content with little plot. i love slice-of-life and fluff a whole lot but i need plot and dynamic building to back it up (more so dynamics, as i care more about character relationships than plot, usually, but point stil applies). i feel like a lot of people misconceive frank to be an overly soft, fluffy person – which frank definitely can be, but i’m kind of uncomfortable with the way he’s constantly written in fanfic to be a mindlessly loyal himbo (namely to karen bc k.astle fans are Like That) and the way his old-fashioned (and subsequently hypermasculine and condescending lmfao) nature is constantly lauded instead of questioned. he's not a great person lmao. also, i feel like this plays into people writing and portraying frank as straight in so much of the fic i read, which i dislike.

ANGST: i LOVE angst, but i don’t like trauma/torture porn. i like angst when it also props up plot and dynamics, but trauma porn? hate it. i feel like an issue that i have with angsty plots is that it tends to occasionally turn into a dynamic revolving my muse taking care of another person’s, or vice-versa (which ive ... tried to work, but still, i can be guilty of it!). i also specifically fucking hate (usually very graphic) immediate post-sexual assault/rape plots that have no basis in canon, which is such a specific thing to rip on but i’ve seen it more than once lmao and it makes me so uncomfortable. please stop torturing your muses for no reason. i feel like i’ve worked on doing that myself, and yes i am aware that the punisher is the hugest example of an edgelord, but uh.... please, i’m begging.

SMUT: ii feel like i enjoy writing smut but not just for smut’s sake. not too into pwp, but sometimes i can be. like what i’ve said about fluff and angst, it just depends!

PLOT / MEMES! ♡ i LOVE both. i feel like memes at this point work better than starters for me. i also enjoy plotting a lot, which for me includes going back and forth about our muses, sending quotes/pictures/etc as inspo, etc. i enjoy that a lot about writing and it’s a huge reason why i love roleplaying - i just love collaborative storytelling. i have a very bad habit of dropping dm’s because my executive dysfunction is Bad and also i can get easily overwhelmed if too many people talk to me but just know i love both.

tagged by : @vylingas thank you ♡ tagging : @transforms, @bulletballet, @hammurabicomplex, @streetknown, @errorware, anyone who wants to do it!

#OUT.#this fun little post really did just turn into a long rambly post full of complaining huh #... anyways

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jaskiersbard · 4 years

Text

The Fantastic Beasts Franchise and JK Rowling

Alright, so...hi everyone.

I don’t know how many people follow this blog anymore because my main blog of operation is now @alwaysahiccupandastrid - I still try to keep this blog relatively active though, just because it was my original blog, I’ve had it since I was 13, and I have so many memories attached to it.

I’m aware that a lot of the people who follow me, especially since late 2016, do so because a) I was a loud and proud Fantastic Beasts fan, b) I wrote some Newtina and Jakweenie fic, and c)...I don’t know. I literally don’t know why people bother following me anywhere because I don’t feel like I have a lot to say. But, anyway, many people probably follow me due to Fantastic Beasts and my posts/fanfics within the fandom.

Those who follow my active blog will already know my feelings and thoughts, but because of the fact many things about this blog - me, the posts for the last four-ish years, the url itself - are Beasts related, I felt it was necessary to come and write an actual post here instead of just reblogging things and calling it a day. I’ve always been very outspoken online, but I’ve been avoiding a certain topic of conversation on this blog for years now, and I’m finally in a place where we can discuss it.

I am, of course, talking about the hot topic that is JK Rowling.

Back in the days between FBAWTFT and FBTCOG, I was a very outspoken defender of JK Rowling and her decision to defend Johnny Depp’s inclusion in the films. Now, this is something I still stand by to this day, and due to the evidence that has since come out, I’m even more steadfast in the opinion that keeping Depp was a great decision. I am fully in support of him and the way he’s currently battling against his abuser. But that’s not what I’m here to talk about right now. As I was saying, back in the day, I was outspoken about the opinion that “we don’t know the full story” etc., and as a result I received very colourful anon messages. Now, to my knowledge, none of these were about JKR being a TERF/transphone, but I think it’s important to mention that at the time I scoffed at the idea she could be one. I openly admit that I didn’t listen to what other people - including actual trans individuals - were saying about JKR and her transphobia because I frankly didn’t want to admit it. I didn’t want to admit that the person who wrote something that saved my life could be so hateful and a bad person - that, and at the time I passed it all off as “wokeness out of control”.

It is now 2020. Up until last Saturday night, I was still in support of JK Rowling - I didn’t agree with some of the stuff she had said, but I was trying to be positive and have hope by telling myself that she didn’t mean to be transphobic, that she just didn’t know what she was doing was wrong, even though the evidence clearly showed otherwise (I.e. her liking transphobic / radfem tweets). I said to my followers on my Beasts page that instead of cancelling people outright, we should be attempting to educate them instead, and if they choose not to learn then fine. And, being 100% obvious, I didn’t want to admit it because I frankly already was feeling annoyed at two different Beasts cast members for different reasons: Ezra Miller (for choking a girl) and Dan Fogler (for his tweet about BLM - admittedly that was probably him being well intentioned but not saying it right). So yeah, I didn’t want to cancel another member of the Beasts “family”.

I had JKR’s tweets on notifications, and for the most part over the last few weeks, it was all about the Ickabog. However, on Saturday night I noticed that she had suddenly tweeted something completely different, and I looked at it. Given that I had adamantly defended her and said “freedom of speech” for so long, it’s telling that my first thought upon seeing her tweet was literally “for fuck sake, Jo, why”.

I won’t post her tweets here but to sum that first tweet up, it was her being annoyed over the term “people who menstruate” being used in an article instead of “woman”, and mockingly saying “there used to be a word for that” before pretending she didn’t know the word. She knew that tweeting it would start arguments and anger, and yet she still made the decision to do so. Her follow up tweets frankly dug the hole deeper; she tried to defend herself by saying, to sum it up, “I have a butch lesbian friend who agrees with me” “I just care about women’s rights!” And “IF trans people were marginalised I’d march with you!” (“If”, of course, being the real kicker here because what do you mean IF. They ARE. Every DAY.)

Since then, JKR has written an essay on her website defending herself and her opinions, and yes, I read it. I read it a few times, in fact. At first, I felt my anger simmer and felt I had been too hasty to make anti JKR jokes, that I was wrong...but then I read it again properly and realised that what she had written was a piece that turned herself into the victim, and that despite putting on the appearance of her saying she supports trans people, including the phrases “I support trans people” and “of course trans women are real women”, she still spewed much transphobic vitriol and hate. She cited no sources for any of her proclamations or statements about statistics, implied that trans men transition to escape their “womanhood”, that trans women are men in dresses, that trans women are dangerous to “real” women (aka cis women) and shouldn’t be allowed into women’s changing rooms or toilets. There was also the autism comment, and the implication of autistic girls somehow not being able to make decisions or whatever.

I’m going to get straight to the point: I don’t support JK Rowling or her radical feminism.

As someone who is a proud feminist (libfem?), I can honestly say that never have I felt threatened or like I was being silenced by the inclusion of trans women in feminist spaces or conversation. Never. In my second year at sixth form, I was in charge of the LGBTQ+ club until a new leader with better leadership skills could step in, and - put simply - that year, the club was made almost entirely of first year transgender students. Even though I had called myself a trans ally for years, I realised there was a lot I didn’t know, and I learnt quite a lot from these students. I continue to still learn today. They were some of the nicest and most intelligent people I got the chance to meet, and I can truly say that at no point was I ever worried to be in a room alone with a trans woman, nor was I concerned about which bathroom they went in - bathrooms are bathrooms. Speaking of bathrooms...when I was at uni during a particularly tense rehearsal a few weeks before our final show last year, a guy in our group made me cry and I ran to the women’s bathroom to escape. Not only did the other girls come to comfort me, but you know what? The guy came in and apologised profusely to me. Did any of us girls give a shit about having a guy in our toilet? Absolutely not. It’s a fucking toilet. And, on that note, I was never worried about a trans woman or even a cis man attacking me in the toilets. You know who DID attack me in the toilets regularly? Other cisgender women.

As a feminist, I fully support trans women and am not threatened by the inclusion of trans women in women’s spaces or in women’s rights discussions. While I agree that cis women and trans women inevitably go through different struggles, at the end of the day, we all identify as women and are women. I think that if your feminism is so threatened by the existence of trans women - TERFs, RadFems, JKR, looking at you - then your feminism is flimsy and not feminism at all.

As a woman, I find it highly offensive that JKR and many RadFems focus so much of womanhood and feminism on an involuntary biological function that, frankly, many of us would rather do without. Yeah, I’m talking about periods - no matter how proud I am to be a woman, I still fucking hate periods and would get rid of mine if I could without erasing my chance of having kids someday. I can hear the RadFems accusing me of “internalised woman hatred” for saying I hate my periods, but you know what, they suck and they hurt and fuck them. The fact that JKR (also the the radfem movement) reduced “women” to just people who menstruate and can have children, and vice versa, is incredibly offensive and misogynistic. For a start, trans men menstruate, intersex people can, non binary can etc. Next, not even ALL cis women have periods - women who are menopausal, young women who haven’t started puberty yet (some do start very late), some women don’t have regular cycles, some women have medical problems that affect their cycle, some women are on birth control that can stop their cycles. So the idea of women being defined as “those who menstruate” is offensive not only to trans/intersex/non binary individuals but also to cis ones too.

As I write this, I’m a 22 year old woman who is still learning and changing every day, and one of the things that I’ve found myself thinking about recently - especially since we’re in lockdown and we have nothing BUT time to think - is about myself and my identity as a woman. What prompted this was when I saw Greta Gerwig’s adaptation of Louisa May Alcott’s beloved book, “Little Women”, which I’ve since read, for my birthday back in January, and I left the cinema feeling exalted and powerful with my own identity as a woman. (I’ll be returning to LW in a bit)

After some thinking, I’ve realised some things. For me, my identity as a woman is not just because once a month my uterus decides to shed; I do not identify as a woman just because I have certain physical features. I am not a particularly feminine person either, and I’m what some may call a “tomboy” (a phrase I actually don’t mind but I know a lot of people do for understandable reasons since it’s a phrase designed to differentiate people who don’t conform to society’s expectations etc) because I prefer video games and more geeky stuff to shopping or dressing up or make up.

For me, there is no one way a person has to be or appear in order to identify as a woman. Women are beautiful, complex human beings; we are not defined by our genitalia, by an involuntary biological process. Women are strong, intelligent, and interesting people - no two are the same. For example, some decide to raise families, some choose to pursue a career, some do both - all of these are valid and none are more “feminist” or “womanly” than the others, because it’s our as women. I guarantee that if you lined up every single woman in the world - cis AND trans - no two would be the exact same.

I mentioned “Little Women” earlier, and as I was pondering over what makes me identify as a “woman”, I thought a lot about a certain quote from the 2019 film that has stayed with me since it was first said in the release of the trailer. It’s spoken by Jo March to her mother, and I’ve started to understand what for me makes me a woman.

For me, being a woman is all of this: having minds, hearts, souls, ambition, talent, and being beautiful each in our own ways. Women are capable of love and empathy, capable of desire, capable of the most complex and human feelings and emotions, and coming out the stronger for it.

Sex is one thing; gender identity is another.

I won’t dissect every single thing JKR wrote in her essay, but I will just say this: her comments regarding autistic girls are extremely tone deaf and she does not speak for those with autism. I’m going to be honest and admit something here I haven’t before: I have not been diagnosed with autism or aspergers but I AM currently on the waiting list to see someone who COULD diagnose me. Apparently I show signs of a potential diagnosis, so...we’ll have to see. But I have friends who are autistic, and they’re disgusted by JKR trying to use them to support her TERF arguments. Autistic and other neurodivergent people are absolutely capable of making decisions and are NOT people who need to be babied or have their hands held, to be told who they are. It’s incredibly ableist of JK Rowling frankly.

I would also like to point out... I’ve seen people saying “but she doesn’t hate autistic people, Newt is autistic!!!” - yes, but JKR didn’t write him as autistic. Eddie Redmayne chose to play Newt as autistic - JK Rowling didn’t do shit.

It’s also time that I acknowledge that both Potter and Beasts inevitably hold JKR’s problematic views, and that by denying her ownership of her work, we’re not holding her accountable for the horrible things she’s done. This includes - but is not limited to -:

Anti-Semitic stereotypes in the goblins

Lycanthropy being used as a metaphor for AIDS - an illness that is heavily associated to the gay community, and also there was the panic of the AIDs crisis in the 90s where much misinformation and homophobia was generated and spread because of it.

Adding further to the lycanthropy point, one of the infected individuals - Greyback - is stated to have a sick preference for infecting children. Not only are werewolves tied to harmful gay/AIDs stereotypes, but also to the disgusting and frankly wrong notion that gay people are pedophiles.

The only Asian character is called Cho Chang. Cho Chang. That’s two steps away from outright just calling her “Ching Chong”. It’s not a name an actual Asian person would have.

The Goldstein sisters are probably distantly related to Anthony Goldstein, who JKR confirmed (on Twitter of course) is Jewish, meaning that Tina and Queenie are most likely Jewish too (and Goldstein is a Jewish surname). However, despite the fact that the first FBaWTFT is set DURING Hanukkah in 1926, there’s zero signs of them celebrating or observing it. Maybe that’s more on set design than anything else, but come on - if I, a fanfic writer, can do some research, JK/the crew of a major movie can too!

Adding on from that, gotta love how one of the JEWISH main characters then decides to join the Wizarding world equivalent of Hitler. I already had problems with Queenie’s characterisation in CoG, but that’s the icing on the cake.

POC/Black characters - in both series but since I’m a Beasts blog... Seraphina Picquery, a Black female president serving a term during a MAJOR wizarding world crisis, is severely reduced to have only 3 lines in CoG. Nagini’s only purpose is to be the only friend of Credence, a white man, before he joins Wizard Hitler and abandons her; she’s also an Asian character who we know one day permanently becomes a SNAKE, and who goes on to actually have a piece of Voldemort’s soul inside of her?? And some do see her as his slave, though you could argue that she’s actually the only being that he holds any love or respect for. Leta Lestrange is a half-black woman who is killed/literally sacrifices herself for TWO WHITE MEN, and who’s death was literally confirmed to have been added in last minute.

Also, the whole Lestrange storyline was fucking nasty: white Lestrange Sr imperius-ed a black woman (Yusuf Kama’s mother), raped her, and she then died in childbirth. I’m sorry, what the fuck??

In Harry Potter, Seamus is a terrible stereotype of an Irish person - he likes to blow things up. Look up the IRA and their bombings. Fucking Irish stereotype. As someone with Irish grandparents and who is proud of their Irish heritage, this really pisses me off.

Let’s not forget the whole Native American cultural appropriation. That truly speaks for itself.

So here is where I speak candidly to everyone who follows me and/or sees this post. While Beasts is no longer my No. 1 fandom these days, it and Potter still hold a huge piece of my heart. I have 5 wizarding world tattoos, so much merchandise, and I can safely say that being a fan of both series has shaped me as a person. Both of those series helped me get through the darkest days of my life, including bullying at school, my Nan passing away, and my mental health struggles.

This is why what’s happened has impacted me so much and broken my heart. For me, it feels like it’s tainted now because of Jo and her views. I know that we should separate the art from the artist, but when her views are so clearly woven into the very fabric of the Wizarding world, it’s a huge problem.

Here’s another part of the dilemma - I do not wish for the Beasts films to be cancelled. I’m well aware that the *cough* people who dislike me will say I’m trying to be negative, trying to boycott the series blah blah blah, but that’s truly the last thing I want. I still love the story, the characters, the soundtrack, and I want to know how it ends, if only for my own piece of mind. It’s also important to add that by boycotting Beasts, it’s also harming the hard working thousands of others who worked on the films: the cast, the crew, the extras, the musicians, etc., not to mention the fans who actually are invested in the series and have taken solace in it. It’s not fair for them to all suffer over the actions of one TERF.

This is one of my biggest worries, however: the Fantastic Beasts films do NOT have a good reputation as it is. The second film was boycotted by some due to Depp, and now there’s talk of people boycotting number 3 because of JK Rowling. Lots of people already talk hatred about it, and this will only fire that hatred up even more.

There’s also talk of Eddie Redmayne potentially being kicked from the franchise due to a “leak” that he doesn’t want to work with JKR anymore, but this could be sensationalist news reporting. But if it came down to it, I can honestly say that I would rather continue to have Eddie play Newt than keep JKR as a writer. Eddie has done more for Newt than even JKR has, and if he goes, then that will be the last straw for me within the fandom. That will be when I take a sharp exit out, sell my FB merch and have my tattoos covered.

To add, the Fantastic Beasts scripts are...not great. Or, at least, what we saw on-screen wasn’t. Maybe that’s David Yates being the literal worst (fuck you, Yates, you suck) and cutting all the parts with strong female characters, but I honestly don’t think that JKR can write screenplays well at all. I think she’s clearly better at writing books, and that’s fine - books obviously allow for more time to explore characters and story/plot arcs etc, and film scripts offer way less of those chances. I don’t think screenplays allow her to write what she needs to in order to tell the story she wants to, hence why CoG was kind of a hot mess. So maybe it’s just that she’s not suited for screenplays and should stick to books.

Honestly, I kind of just wish that WB would hire another person to finish writing the Fantastic Beasts movies - obviously they’d have to keep JKR on board to tell them the actual plot, but get someone who can actually write screenplays and not be problematic to write them.

By now I’ve gone on long enough that I’ve forgotten my original intent while writing this, so I’ll try to sum up and end now. In short, I am extremely disappointed in JK Rowling and do not support her or her views any longer.

I don’t know how any of you guys are feeling but I would be interested to hear other people’s thoughts, especially other Fantastic Beasts fans. I want to also add that, as always, my DMs and inbox are always open - if not here, then always at @alwaysahiccupandastrid where I’m more active nowadays.

Finally, you guys don’t need me - a white cis woman - to tell you this but you’re all valid and magical and fuck JK Rowling. Her characters would all be ashamed of her, and the characters we grew up with would not stand for the bigotry and vile hatred she spreads under the guise of ““protecting women””. Several of the amazing actors from Potter and Beasts have spoken out against her and her tweets: Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Bonnie Wright, Katie Leung, Chris Rankin, Eddie Redmayne. Some have been...less inspiring (Tom Felton, Evanna Lynch, looking at you two 👀)

I’m sending love to everyone right now. I wish I could say something more useful but I’ve spoken enough - I’ve made my opinion clear. I love you all, please stay safe.

#fantastic beasts and where to find them #fantastic beasts: the crimes of grindelwald #jk rowling #harry potter

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monkey-network · 4 years

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My Issues with Butch Hartman

Call this the sequel to my post on Mr. Enter. But honestly compared to Enter, Butch Hartman has made himself look far worse in so little time. Not only with how he uses his influence, but he basically showed his true colors not long after he left Nickelodeon. With Enter, the worst you can say about him is his opinions on media and his politics. With Hartman, there is a surprisingly lot more under his belt that made the hate towards him .

To preface this, while I’m gonna shit on this dude, I’m not shaming anyone who still likes his past content. With that said, bibbity Boppity boopity. Let’s look at the fucking scoopity.

The Telltale Oaxis

This really takes the cake as the scummiest thing Butch has done. Words and opinions can be one thing, but using your platform to basically trick some people out of their money for a project you abandoned for the most part grinds me gears a lot more. As bad as his marketing strategy was, at least Enter provided effort in his indiegogo project beforehand for god’s sake. Oaxis is one of the most pitiable crowdfunded projects I’ve seen.

It’s nearly two years since Butch got Oaxis funded and what have gotten beyond pure dead silence. Nearly two years and little to no significant updates for Oaxis’s Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, his Youtube, or the site’s official account. No wait, that last part’s kind of a lie. They had monthly updates on the official site up until September 2019. Could’ve posted this on their social medias but you take what you can get.

The major takeaway from the updates, in all fairness, was that the kickstarter wasn’t enough and they still need to raise more funds for the service. The “capital-building” stage he calls it where he’s looking for more investors in addition to getting actual programs onto the service. That and Oaxis is a big vision for Butch and his wife in spite of not only giving up the monthly updates and basically secluding any mention of Oaxis from any place else. That’s basically it and I legit feel sorry for everyone that couldn’t get their refund back.

This isn’t HBO Max or Disney+ where you just expect them to have something together after their initial announcement because they’re already media conglomerates, this is an independent project. One that people, your fans included Butch, put over 200K thinking you would at least give people something. But beyond a “sizzle reel” that said nothing aside from Oaxis going to be a thing, you have presented jack after two years. I don’t expect the ins and outs of every business meeting with executives, but staying silent about everything except for monthly newsletters that offer very little encouraging progress and hasn’t updated since September of last year is not a good sign. And I’m especially hard on this topic, Butch, because this is the biggest point where it is seriously hard to trust you. It’s not criticizing your ego when after having too many cracks in your story, you really haven’t put your money where your mouth is.

I don’t wanna presume the guy’s given up on it, hoping everybody would forget it after a while, but he’s really put the effort in to make Oaxis feel like a afterthought. I’m not an expert in business, but even I can believe that after his non-apology for not being upfront with his initial intentions, that he’d try to provide updates on the project to not come off as the scam artist people have accused him as. Even with his Youtube channel that I’ll get to later, I don’t think it’s hard consistently posting about your so called vision if you have that much faith in its success. You’ve already gotten thousands of bucks initially with the crowdfund, people deserve more than your pitiful wishful platitudes and I unfortunately can’t believe you’ll have anything after a few years. It’s not that everyone forgot about it, but you mostly took the money and ran. If Butch pops up with something if he sees this somehow, I’ll eat that crow, but I sincerely doubt it after this long. Like at least post something on the Twitter, I get depressed just looking at it; that account is the textbook definition of famine.

The Childhood Reposter

I’ve brought up Butch’s youtube channel a couple times, and it’s when every time I look at it, it’s a little sad. When it comes to major creators, I typically think that after finishing their projects they’d move to newer things. People like Lauren Faust, Mike Judge, CH Greenblatt are all continuing to make new works under differing studios while new creators are getting the spotlight. Butch though? I mean, he has a new cartoon that I swear you’ve never heard about but other than that, the dude looks like he has little to say for himself nowadays beyond the 2 shows he’s famous for, Fairly Odd Parents and Danny Phantom. I would’ve added TUFF Puppy and Bunsen is a Beast but I can see that those two aren’t his major players seeing as how they’re rarely ever mentioned on the channel.

If it’s not some watchmojo level meme video, almost every other video is about either two of those shows in some varied fashion. I get that he “created your childhood” and made credulous bank from Nickelodeon, but it’s like Danny Phantom is all that stands between him and having an audience. That and drawing anime characters in his style which is... y’know, I’ll leave that to you. It’s like he retired and yet goes on about the good old days like a fluctuating ego. He’s still making a cartoon but to him that’s hardly a factor compared to his known successes.

Personally, I wouldn’t want to just be known as the guy who made two of your countless beloved cartoons. Not that that’s all he talks about, but it’s the insistence of his legacy that unfortunately gives me Bojack Horseman vibes. He no doubt has a good thing going but I believe that this isn’t gonna last. Just saying, dude has 850K subscribers and unless it’s a real hook like with the recent Danny Phantom/Jake Long death battle, he’s hardly getting a good fraction of views anymore. There’s only so many times you can milk Danny Phantom as your masterpiece before everyone moves on.

The Holy Boast

I wanna make this short because I’m not a huge talker of religion, but I stand to say that you should NOT, under any circumstance, believe BPD, PTSD, autism, fucking heart & kidney failure can be “cured” or “healed” through sermons of prayer. This here? This is genuinely something else.

https://www.healingjourneys.today/

For clarity, this was a gospel conference hosted by Butch and his wife and yes, they openly proclaim that BPD, austism, and heart disease can be cured through prayer of holy worship.

Now, I’m gonna give a full disclosure right here because this most certainly biases my point here, like I’m gonna own this. But my grandpa was a religious man that suffer from health problems. He notably prayed to carry on, yes, but at the same time he sought medical help. Even he told me that prayers wasn’t gonna keep the pacemaker going, he went to the doctors and actually did more than read the bible to improve himself. He unfortunately passed, but he was in his 70s and I honestly couldn’t believe, as hard as I try, that he was gonna live forever. My grandpa would’ve no doubt died far earlier if he followed this conference’s logic.

My point is that this is personally unsettling. I seriously cannot believe this is how autism and religion works and it blows my mind that him and his wife thought this conference was a suitable idea. I’m not bashing them as christians, but thinking mental disorders and bodily diseases can be done away with motivational seminars because that’s basically what they are is a legit slap to the face. And the seedling idea that they’ve done this before blows my mind.

The Financial Flaker

This is very recent and everything is generally explained in the 12 minute video but long story short: Butch hired an artist and never paid them for their work. The artist in question, Kuro, describes what happened between him and Butch in this video and provides receipts. Can’t really add anything to this myself beyond this just builds to the idea that Butch cannot be trusted as a professional business maker. I believe he still has people working for him but from this video, it tells me that Hartman will gladly use those lower than him in favorable pursuits and will gladly throw ignorance when he wants to because his cartoon veteran status presents that shield from thinking he can do no wrong, which can mean throttling his hires. Let’s end this.

youtube

The Conclusion

When I get down to it, Butch is almost a Machiavellian character in a way. It’s amazing how much the trust people have had with Hartman have evaporated in less than a couple years. It’s amazing how much his ego has truly shown after he stopped being a namestay in Nickelodeon. Haven’t even mentioned the times he arrogantly deflected criticism because he was a namestay at Nick and how a couple who’ve worked with are well aware of his ego. I can’t help but believe that even after everything, he claims ignorance to his fall from grace and keeps going. Even when more and more are knowing his true self, he’s mostly just doing what he’s been doing for the past few years.

It’s respectable in a way, but shows that the world will move on without him. Again, if you like Danny Phantom and Fairly OddParents, I won’t judge you for it nor say you should be ashamed. This isn’t about cancelling Butch, or get him to stop spreading whatever wacky things he believes in. It’s my personal take of how this man whom I once respected because of what he made before has lost every bit of that from me. It really feels like he grew up with that “I Created Your Childhood” mentality being a 4 time showrunner for almost a couple decades. And when he finally left Nickelodeon, I guess the chance to be that stand out self-made success got to his head and he finally showed his true colors. I now find it hard to believe Butch cares about the little guy that were his fans as much as he rides off his success and others who tolerate him. As such, like JK Rowling, more are seeing this side of him and leaving him behind. Meanwhile Butch is gonna chug on until he just loses steam. It’s kinda like Icarus where the guy will make every effort to fly to the sun. But sooner or later, he’s gonna fall, and in the end I doubt anyone’s gonna care to see it. I know he won’t.

#butch hartman #nickelodeon #animation #long post #sorry for the rant n bant

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femmepromises · 4 years

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PSA from a baby femme lesbian

okay... this is the closest thing to a “discourse post” you’ll ever see me post here, but I’m not posting this to start arguments. I’m posting this as a reminder and a caution for everyone and I’m leaving it at that, because this is something I had to deal with recently and it troubles me a lot. I hope I won’t have to post something like this again. (sorry in advance for the length of this lol.)

it’s been long enough that I feel like I can talk about it without spiraling into anxiety, so...a few days before my birthday back in february, I got several hate-anon messages sent to this blog as well as my main. I deleted them and didn’t say anything here because I didn’t want to bring that kind of thing into a space meant for solidarity, but the things they said genuinely hurt my heart.

not just because they attacked me, but because they specifically scorned me for choosing to welcome non-lesbian femmes and accused me of “betraying” my fellow lesbians in doing so.

I don’t have many followers, but for those of you who are here...thank you for being here, and if you’re ever unsure or uncomfortable with anything I post/reblog, you can always refer back to my BYF page and unfollow if you need to. if you want to talk and you think you can heed the message in front of my inbox - “be kind” - I am willing to explain how I feel, and listen to why you feel differently.

I am a lesbian...and it took me a long time to feel comfortable saying that. I love the word “lesbian”. I love being a lesbian and being with other lesbians. lesbians are amazing and strong and so full of love. and the sheer amount of complexity and richness that butch/femme subculture holds, it just...completely enchants me, makes me so hungry to learn more about it, makes me so proud to have found a home in being femme and cherishing butches.

but this vitriol I see happening in too many places? to the point where even someone “qualified” to ID as femme gets attacked for disagreeing on one tumblr topic? it needs to stop.

while I’m at it? the assumption that bi femmes only ever see femme as being “feminine” and nothing deeper, that they somehow make butch/femme lesbians “unsafe”, that their supposed “availability to men” makes them incapable of understanding the history and complexity of the butch/femme dynamic their sapphic forebears took part in, or barred from seeing their own desires reflected in it...that also needs to stop. there are so, so many reasons why a bisexual sapphic might feel drawn to butch/femme culture and identity. you may have many reasons of your own to disagree with it, but you should at least disagree in a way that acknowledges those bi women’s desires and experiences with honesty and respect.

there are JUST as many lesbians out there using “butch” and “femme” (if not more) who see it as “wearing pants” and “wearing skirts”, who are completely ignorant to the depth and history behind the terms. yet I only ever see this fear, anger and blame getting directed at “non-lesbians”, with “non-lesbians” almost ALWAYS being code for “bisexual women”. all too often, I see butch/femme discourse being used to attack bi women on this site and paint them as shallow, clueless, boy-obsessed, greedy and entitled. I see it being used to perpetuate biphobia in the name of “protecting lesbians”, and be applauded for it. that ESPECIALLY is unacceptable and needs to stop.

lesbian feelings DO matter. lesbians DO deserve to be protected. there IS lesbophobia running rampant in other communities, and even among ourselves. but sticking our fingers in our ears when others speak and slipping into blind tribalism are NOT the right solutions...for us, or for anyone else. our sisters deserve better, and so do we.

bisexual women - yes, including those who ID as butch or femme - are not our enemies. not unless we choose to make them so, and I will always choose not to. every time.

butch/femme LGBTQ+ history is complicated. the way our identities evolve from it is equally complicated. nuance, education and empathy are needed all-around if we have any genuine desire to keep butch/femme culture alive and foster solidarity with each other. that’s the whole reason this blog exists.

and a messy tumblr debate (that very few LGBTQ+ people in real-life communities are even aware of) should never get in the way of that solidarity. it’s the only thing holding us all together. that deserves to be protected too.

please. be kind. ♡

this blog is still a drama-free, discourse-free space. you are welcome to reblog this post, but any discourse that follows will be ignored, or blocked if needed. this post is a reminder to have empathy, NOT an invitation for debate. anyone who gives me grief over this topic in the future will be directed back to this post and my BYF page without further response.

#femme lesbian #bi femme #I am so sorry for this #especially for how long it is lol #I hope I haven't whacked the hornet's nest in posting this #I wouldn't be posting this at all if I didn't feel it needed to be said

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princesssarisa · 4 years

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10 facts about Shana and her mother Darika. Plus the full OC interview with each of them :)

Here they are! Shanna, the “Beauty” of my wlw Beauty and the Beast retelling (which still lacks a definitive title, though I intend it to include the word “rose”), and Darika, her mother.

Shanna 10 facts 1. She is 14 years old during the story’s prologue, 17 when the main plot starts, and 19 by the end.

2. My facecast for her is the late Israeli singer Ofra Haza (best known to some of us for providing the voice of Moses’s mother Yocheved in The Prince of Egypt) when she was very young.

3. She’s mixed race. Her mother’s ancestors were white pseudo-Europeans, while her father’s came from a Middle Eastern-inspired culture. Both practiced the same Judaism- and Shamanism-inspired religion, though. She’s her world’s equivalent of a Jewish person who’s half Ashkenazi, half Mizrahi.

4. Her name is partly a variant of the Yiddish “Shaina,” meaning “beautiful,” and partly an abbreviation of the Hebrew “Shoshanna,” meaning “lily” or, more significantly, “rose.” It has nothing to do with the Hebrew “shana,” meaning “year” – they’re just almost-homonyms.

5. Unlike most traditional Beauty and the Beast Beauties, she’s the eldest of three sisters, not the youngest. Her two sisters aren’t wicked, but they are a bit of a handful because they’re so young, and she’s had to be their responsible caretaker. She plays that role well – her little sister Zuri sooner calls for her than for their mother when she needs help – but it’s kept her from fully exploring her own potential, which she finally does get to explore during her time with Liriel, the lady beast.

6. Her personality is very much like Disney’s original animated Belle: bookish, sweet, emotional, full of dreams, yet intelligent and strong willed too. She’s more socially awkward than Belle, though, and unfortunately, she also has the self-doubt of Robin McKinley or Megan Kearney’s Beauties. Unlike Belle, she’s internalized the idea that she’s odd and oversensitive, so she tries to act like a “normal” down-to-earth villager, until the year she spends with Liriel makes her realize her worth just as she is.

7. She’s an aspiring author and poet. At age 13, before her family fell into poverty, she wrote a play based on the popular story of the heroine Lady Yasfira, portraying her as more flawed and dynamic than in most retellings, giving more sympathy than usual to the “evil” queen who opposed her, and portraying them as having once been friends. (Think either The Prince of Egypt or Wicked, or both.) The play was never performed at the time, but years later, with Liriel’s encouragement, she fine-tunes it, and then they perform it together for Liriel’s animal servants – this plays an important role in their growing feelings for each other.

8. She rarely lets herself get angry, but when she does, she can verbally annihilate you.

9. She realized she was bisexual at age 11 when, after her first crush on a boy at her school ended, she developed a new crush on a girl. She probably realized this more quickly than most real-world bi girls do, because the setting, Zalina Island, has no homophobia. She never acted on her crushes, but only out of shyness, not because she saw anything wrong with liking girls.

10. Despite her gentle personality, she’s not especially femme: she’s more soft butch, or maybe futch. She dislikes dresses (fortunately, Zalina Island has no taboo against women in pants) and generally wears just one or two feminine articles, like a shawl or earrings, with otherwise boyish clothing.

Interview (as she would answer it around the middle of the story)

What did you want to be, when you were a kid? There were so many things I wanted to be at different times. A queen, a princess, a duchess, a prophet, a traveling bard, an actress, a shepherdess, a farmer, a lady knight, a prime minister, a priestess, an acrobat, a cook, a kitchen maid, a dressmaker like my mother, a merchant like my father, a doctor, a midwife, a goldsmith, a fairy… and eventually, I realized that the one way to be all those things was to be a writer.

When did you know you wanted to be a writer? As soon as I was old enough to realize that stories didn’t come out of thin air, but where written by people. I wanted to do it as soon as I knew I could.

Who inspires you? My mother, my father, and a wide array of fictional heroes and heroines.

If you got to choose, where would you like to live? With whom? I’d love to live in a castle. I try not to care where I live as long as my family is with me, but my dreams of living in some splendid beautiful place never seem to die. I wouldn’t want it unless my family was there too, though.

Which item would you never give away? My journal, where I write down my secret thoughts, poems and stories.

Tell us about the biggest mistake you made in your life. Until recently, I might have cited the time I forgot to write an important history essay for school because I got lost in writing my play Yasfira and Anefri. Or else the time I lost my temper with my three-year-old sister Zuri and hurt her feelings so badly that she ran away and was missing for over an hour. But now, there’s no doubt that my worst mistake was asking Mama to bring me back a unique flower if she could find one on her trip to the city. Who would have thought a flower would cost so much?

Did you ever fear for your life? Yes, the moment when I saw Lady Liriel for the first time, after I followed Mama back to her lair – half wolf, half dragon, and entirely terrifying – and even more so, when she sniffed the air and I knew she smelled me hiding there.

There’s people who say you’re strange. Do you have any comment on this? I’m afraid it’s true. So often my imagination feels more real than the real world, my mind flies off to places that no one else believes exist, my emotions swell and crash like tidal waves no matter how much I try to swallow them and put logic first, I’ve always asked too many questions, and I feel less alone with only my books, paper and pen than I do in crowds of people.

Tell us something about you that nobody knows. Well, not many people know how strange I am anymore. I’ve learned to copy Mama and pretend to be as sensible and down-to-earth as she and our neighbors are, instead of spewing my feelings and dreams the way I used to. If the villagers knew about my romantic fantasies or the stories and poems I write in my head, they would laugh or scold even more than the people in the city did when I was small.

What would make a perfect day for you? A few hours spent reading, a few spent writing, and maybe a trip to the theatre in the evening, with people who understand me and let me feel free to be myself.

Darika 10 Facts 1. She takes on the father’s traditional role in the Beauty and the Beast story. Her husband was a merchant, but he died in the same shipwreck that destroyed his merchandise and left the family impoverished. But a few years later, she learns that one of his ships survived after all, has to travel to reclaim its cargo, but gets lost in a forest… and we all know the rest. Recent BatB retellings have put a lot of effort into answering the question “What happened to Beauty/Belle’s mother?” in interesting and poignant ways. To be different, I thought “Why not make her mother the living parent?”

2. My facecast for her is the New York City Criminal Court judge Rachel “Ruchie” Freier. Not that I know much about Judge Freier, but her face look right for the character.

3. At the beginning of the story, she’s 35 years old. By the end, she’s 40.

4. She was born in a small, poor village at the base of the White Pine Mountains. Her parents died when she was a baby, so she was raised by her grandfather and her older sister, who have since died too.

5. She worked as a seamstress in the village until she met and fell in love with a wealthy young traveling merchant from an elite port city. Despite the disapproval of his social circle, they married. After his death, she took their daughters back to her home village to start a new life.

6. Her impoverished upbringing and family tragedies have toughened her. She takes a very practical, hardworking, no-nonsense approach to life, tries to teach her daughters to do the same, and is calm and resolute in the face of hardship, focusing on “What are we going to do about it?” She sometimes loses patience with her daughter Shanna’s dreaminess and sensitivity, which makes Shanna, who adores and idolizes her, feel inadequate and weak.

7. Inside, though, she feels just as deeply and intensely as Shanna does. Her love for her family is limitless and she’s actually very dependent on Shanna, who fills the role of the family’s nurturing caregiver more than Darika’s temperament lets her do.

8. One thing she and Shanna have in common, which Shanna learned from her, is strong integrity and deep compassion for others. For her, the best part of being rich was all the good she could do for the poor, while the hardest part of becoming poor again was having so little to give to those even poorer.

9. Her sewing is more than just her job – it’s an art. She embroiders the clothes and quilts she makes with all kinds of colors and unique designs. The vibrant images she creates are an outlet for the emotions she doesn’t express.

10. Her personality is inspired by assorted beloved literary heroines, both classic (Jane Eyre, Elinor Dashwood) and modern (Tamora Pierce’s lady knight Keladry of Mindalen). For all their differences, and though they’re much younger than Darika, all these heroines are quiet, practical, dignified, staunch in their integrity, deeply caring and passionate on the inside, and yet with masks of stoic self-control that they only drop when intensely provoked. I like those heroines and admire them, yet sometimes their popular role model status annoys me, because it’s hard for a highly sensitive, naturally effusive person to act like them. So Darika pays tribute to them, but the story will also emphasize that her daughters don’t need to be like her.

Interview (as she would answer it around the middle of the story) What did you want to be, when you were a kid? A forest sprite or a good witch. I had a wild imagination in those days, before the real world tamed it.

When did you know you wanted to be a seamstress? When I first learned that the flowers and birds on my childhood quilt hadn’t sprouted there by themselves, but were embroidered by my mother, and that the storytelling tapestries that hung on the village temple walls were sewn by other villagers in the same way. I wanted to create beauty like they had, and to tell stories through pictures, while at the same time creating useful things for others: clothes, blankets, handkerchiefs, etc. I think I willed my own talent for sewing into being to do just that.

Who inspires you? My older sister Shanna; the namesake of my daughter. We lost our mother very young, so she took on the role of mother for me, and every day her love and strength have inspired me as I’ve raised my own children.

If you got to choose, where would you like to live? With whom? I would live in a clean, elegant, comfortable house with my daughters, a servant or two, and my husband, if only I could bring him back.

Which item would you never give away? My wedding ring.

Tell us about the biggest mistake you made in your life. Three of them, one directly after the other. First, when I was lost in the Great Forest during a storm, I took shelter in what I thought was an ordinary cave. Then, when I found that the inside looked like a castle, I should have turned and left; even then I knew that such an enchanted place would be dangerous. But I was cold, wet, and afraid I would die if I went back out into the storm, so I stayed. Last but not least, when I discovered the greenhouse garden in that castle-cave, I crept in and picked a rose as a gift for my daughter Shanna. Who would have dreamed a single flower would cost so much?

Did you ever fear for your life? I feared for my life when I was lost in the storm, but even more so when I came face to face with Lady Liriel. I’ll never forget the sight of her matted fur and vampire-bat fangs as she glared down at me.

There’s people who say you’re cold and stony. Do you have any comment on this? They don’t really know me.

Tell us something about you that nobody knows. Very few people fully know me, not even my daughters. I play the role of the calm, practical peasant woman, but it’s only skin-deep. Shanna thinks all her wild passions and romantic dreams came from her father, but really she inherited them from me too. My grandfather knew the secret me, and so did my sister, and my husband. But they’re all gone, and as I’ve buried each of them, I’ve buried those aspects of myself more deeply.

What would make a perfect day for you? A quiet day of embroidery by the fire at home, with my daughters all near me and all happy.

#my writing #oc ask #10 facts #oc interview #shanna #darika #my ocs #cinefantastiquemitho

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